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Tame Impala’s New Album “Currents” Is Incredibly Vaporwave

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So the other day, my friend texted me and asked me if I copped Tame Impala’s new album “Currents.” I’ve never listened to Tame Impala before, so I told my friend I don’t have the album, I don’t listen to the band. I’ve seriously never listened to them before that I couldn’t even hear one of their songs on the radio and know it’s them, Now, I do listen to a lot of bands; indie bands, alternative bands, rock bands, etc. I’ve just never listened to this band before.

Since, I’ve never listened to Tame Impala before, I thought I might as well give them a try. I’m always open to new music and so, I searched Tame Impala in YouTube’s search bar and I came across the song “Cause I’m A Man.” The song is the band’s 3rd single from their new album. The song was released in April and the music video was released in May. Better late than never, I guess.

Once, I clicked play I was immediately taken back. The first words that came out of my mouth were “This is so Vaporwave.” I had to check if other fans of Vaporwave were feeling this way too, so I typed in Google “Tame Impala and Vaporwave” Funny enough, the song that I listened to was the song that many other people were getting the vaporwave vibe from.

Now, just like this band and this song, I was late to the party when it comes to finding out about the genre Vaporwave. The genre started gaining ground in 2011. Notable artists in this genre are; Saint Pepsi, James Ferraro and Vektriod. Saint Pepsi actually had to change his name because of the use of Pepsi in his name and now goes by his real name Skylar Spence. Under his name as Saint Pepsi, he dropped an incredible album called “Hit Vibes.” Vektriod on the other hand uses a lot of alias names and one of them is Macintosh Plus.

Under Macintosh Plus, Vektriod dropped the album “Floral Shoppe.” Floral Shoppe includes the song “Lisa Frank 420/Modern Computing.” This song is considered the most important and quintessential song in vaporwave.

James Ferraro’s album “Far Side Virtual” is known in the Vaporwave community as a huge catalyst for the genre attracting attention. Now the way, I got into Vaporwave was that I saw this weird mix being recommended for me on YouTube and the mix included the song “Lisa Frank 420/Modern Computing.” This vaporwave song was my first introduction into the genre. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the late 70s to 80s aesthetic.

This type of music just sounds like nostalgia. It’s hard to explain what Vaporwave really is because It’s just one of those feelings you can’t explain. So once, I heard Tame Impala’s “Cause I’m A Man,” I immediately felt the nostalgic feeling that i’ve only felt from listening to Vaporwave.

People who are fans of Tame Impala and reviews that i’ve seen for the album cite this album as being a completely different sound for the band. I honestly wouldn’t know if it is a different sound for them, but fans need to understand that when you follow a band or an artist, you’re following their growth. A Redditor in the Vaporwave community shares the same sentiment as me.

Artists are humans too, and they change. And if they change, the sound of their music will change. Now since, I recently signed up for Apple Music trial, I went into my iTunes and started listening to their new album.

Throughout the entire album, it has the feelings of vaporwave, all of the songs are so smooth and sonically it’s just mind blowing. The album sounds like it could have been dropped in the 80s. And for a first time listener of Tame Impala and a lover of Vaporwave, the album is amazing for me through and through.

It’s incredibly vaporwave and I love it.

MY MOTTO IS: IF YOU WANNA WIN THE LOTTERY, YOU HAVE TO MAKE THE MONEY TO BUY A TICKET!